The Promise He Kept
by ScarletPoison1987
Summary: A one-shot head-canon conversation between the Doctor and Rose after GITF.


_**This was written after I read a bunch of Tumblr posts on how horrible GITF was. I never remembered it being that bad...and I never felt that the Doctor was "in love" with Reinette and that's why he was upset about her death. I re-watched the episode and this conversation is my own, personal head-canon on why I think he was really upset about the events that took place. I thought it was the guilt...especially after what the conversation he had with Sarah Jane. So this is a sort of fix-it for that episode. Maybe some of you will choose to believe this also... ;)**_

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The Doctor threw open the TARDIS doors. The vast emptiness of space greeted him. He took a deep breath in through his nose and shoved his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, staring out at the distant stars. He heard soft footsteps approaching on the metal grating behind him. He didn't have to turn and look to see who it was.

"You haven't lost Mickey in here, have you?" He asked, trying for jovial or at least aloof.

"He's gone to bed," Rose said, coming to stand next to him. She leaned against the doorframe and followed his gaze out into the black horizon, fiddling with the bottom button of her green and pink plaid pajama top. "Little too much for him, I reckon. But he'll be good to go after he sleeps it off."

Nodding, the Doctor glanced over at her. "What about you? Aren't you tired?"

The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smirk. "I'll get a few hours in later. Wanted to check on you first."

He rubbed his jaw and said, "Well, Time Rotor's pumping a bit slow. I might pop underneath and see if I can't find out what the problem is. Though it might be easier if I had some help with that. I'll wait until you wake up to get a proper start on it."

"Mickey could help too, you know," she offered. "He's a good mechanic, he is."

The Doctor looked delighted. "He is, isn't he? Might come in handy, having a mechanic on board. When you're both rested, I thought we'd take a little trip to the Exiggerion Bazaar. They've got psychic perfume there. You'd love it. Perfume that smells like whatever you think about while spraying it on; isn't that brilliant?" Then he scrunched up his face. "Just don't make my mistake and wonder what would happen if you think about sour milk. Trust me. Best drycleaners in the universe can't get that out. Ruined a great sweater vest that way."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, shaking her head. "But… I wasn't talkin' about repairs or trips. I came to see if you're okay. And don't lie to me, mister, and tell me that you're alright. Somethin' happened the last time you went through the fireplace. Somethin' happened to her, didn't it? What was it?" Rose was giving him that stern look that she had. She got that look from her mother, but he loved it anyway. Stubborn and determined, that was his Rose.

The Doctor looked back out into space and swallowed hard. "She died."

Rose nodded, obviously expecting this answer. "I'm sorry," she said, sounding more like him than he cared to admit.

He sighed. "I knew it was going to happen. I knew she died young… But I promised her a trip. She died before I got back. I was too late."

"It's not your fault," Rose told him kindly.

"Yeah," he said solemnly and rubbed his eyes.

"It's not," Rose reiterated. "You saved her from those droids and she got to live a great life. Just look at everythin' she did."

"She died waiting for me," the Doctor said. He raised his chin and looked down at Rose, waiting for a reaction.

She fixed her eyes on him. "And if it wasn't for you, she would have died a lot sooner. It was an accident. You didn't make her wait on purpose."

"Still…Don't you see, Rose," he said, dragging a hand down his tired face, "that's who I am? That's what I do. I swoop into someone's life, show them how big and wonderful the whole universe is, and then leave them waiting… wondering… watching the sky. Sarah Jane… now Reinette..." he sighed. "Nothing. I leave them with nothing. No explanation. No warning. No goodbye. I just… leave."

"So that's what this is about," Rose said, reaching out for his hand. She intertwined their fingers and ran her thumb down the back of his. "Sarah Jane did alright for herself too, ya know?"

"I know. But they both deserved better. They deserved a goodbye, a proper one. They didn't deserve to wait around for me to come back. I…I don't deserve for them to wait." Then he was quiet for a moment, looking off pensively into the darkness outside the TARDIS doors. Suddenly, he let go of her hand and spun to face her. The Doctor cupped her face in his hands and stared at her with such intensity that she felt breathless. "Rose Tyler, I am gonna make you a promise," he said. "Oh, this is gonna be a big promise… huge. Are you ready?"

"Uh…yeah," she said uncertainly.

He smiled a slow, easy smile. "If it ever comes to it, you will get a goodbye. You'll get a magnificent, brilliant goodbye. I don't care if I have to break the laws of physics or cause a paradox; it's what you deserve and I owe that to you. Have you got that?"

Rose beamed at him. "Got it."

"Good," he told her, releasing her face. He cleared his throat and backed away.

"But I'm not goin' anywhere," Rose said matter-of-factly, tossing her hair back. "So you won't have to worry about that."

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but seemed to reconsider and clamped his teeth closed with a click. For just a moment, his expression faded back to tired and drawn. But, as quickly as it had changed, his face lit up again into a fantastic smile. "Right! Glad we've established that, then. 'Cos what would I do without you? Can't have me saving the universe on my own, now can we?" He shut the wooden doors with a flourish.

"Who would you offend royalty with?" Rose asked, playfully elbowing his arm as she made her way to the center of the control room.

"See, I need Rose Tyler around to keep me in trouble and on my toes," he said, bounding past her to the TARDIS controls. He started flipping switches as he shot her a cheeky grin. "Better get some sleep. I have a big day planned."

"Oh, I reckon you do," she said, heading in the direction of the hallway. Then, Rose stopped and turned back around. She watched him for a moment, chewing on her thumb nail and deliberating over what she wanted to say. "You almost didn't though, did you?"

The Doctor had been cranking on some lever and when she spoke, he paused with his back still turned to her. He didn't turn around. "Hmm?"

"Me and Mickey… we were gonna be trapped on that space station if you didn't come back. Was I gonna get a goodbye then?"

She heard the Doctor exhale and then he moved his hand slowly over to another switch and flipped it. A hologram flickered into life to their left. It was the Doctor… this new, new Doctor. The hologram faced the TARDIS doors, its back to her. Rose moved around the console until she could see it face on.

"Rose Tyler…" it said softly. Then the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the hologram and it was silent. The lips moved, but no sound came out.

She looked at him quizzically and he swallowed hard. "New emergency protocols," he explained. "I activated it before I went through the mirror. The moment you and Mickey stepped through those doors, the TARDIS would have taken you back home." He shook his head and then flipped the switch again, making the hologram disappear. "I'd never leave you stranded."

"And what about you?" she asked. "You would've been stranded in France…"

"I had a plan, I'll have you know," he said indignantly. "Well, half of one… Well, quarter of one…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "One eighth?"

Rose crossed her arms and cocked her head. "Let's hear it, then."

He shrugged. "I thought, if I waited around enough, I'd figure out when and where to meet a past version of myself and hitch a ride back to the estate. It would change a few things, yeah… But better than being stuck there. I'm not gonna trap myself, now am I? Me… without the TARDIS? Well, couldn't do that…"

"You think you're so clever," she challenged him.

"Yeah," he said, giving her a megawatt smile, "I do."

"Next time, mind clueing me in, yeah?" she asked. "You had me worried sick."

He nodded. "I'll try."

She sighed. "I'm off to bed, then." Rose pointed at him as she walked to her room. "No funny business while I'm gone."

He gave a mock salute. "Oh, and Rose…"

"Yeah?" she asked, turning back to him.

"I'm sorry," he said. His eyes were sincere, genuine, and warm. There was a bare honesty in his tone that Rose knew was not easy for him.

She grinned at him with her tongue between her teeth. "Good," she teased and headed down the hallway when he smiled back at her. "G'night, Doctor."

"Good night, Rose."

The Doctor kept his promise to her…three times.

"_I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye."_

"_He needs you. That's very me."_

"_Tell you what. I bet you're gonna have a really great year."_


End file.
